Latest news with #IndianInstituteofPublicHealth
Hans India
15-07-2025
- Health
- Hans India
IIPH Hyd'bad conferred with ‘Deemed to be University' status
Rangareddy: The Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), Hyderabad and its sister institutions based in Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar have been conferred with a status of 'Deemed to be University' under a distinct category by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. According to a release by the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), Hyderabad, the recognition was formally notified through Gazette of India, dated July 5, 2025. Following the announcement, the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) declared it as a seminal moment in the evolution of public health education, research and policy development in India. Elated over the conferment of a deemed to be university status to the (IIPH) along with sister institutions based at Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar, Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, the Founding President of PHFI said, 'We now have the academic freedom and operational flexibility to design anticipatory and adaptive curriculum – aligned with evolving national health policies such as Ayushman Bharat and respond dynamically to region-specific health needs.' He emphasized that India's public health challenges require a large and diverse workforce comprising health researchers, programme implementers, policy advocates, community engagement experts and systems analysers. The new university status, he further said, will empower the IIPHs to independently craft academic programmes tailored to India's complex health transitions ranging from communicable and non-communicable diseases to pandemic preparedness and ageing-related care. Meanwhile, as part of the Telangana government's measure to revamp the health care sector in the state, the Rangareddy district administration has planned to fill the posts of Medical officers in various Upper Primary Health Centers (UPHCs) under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM). According to notification, the Office of the district Medical & Health Officer Rangareddy district invited applications from eligible candidates for filling up 21 posts of Medical Officers on contract basis for a period of one year. 'The process of receiving applications by-hand and online already begins from July 11 and will continue till 5.00 pm on July 18. Later, the same will be sent to Collectorate Rangareddy for the purpose of scrutiny and selection of the eligible candidates,' informed Mallikarjun, Senior Assistant, District Medical & Health Office (DM&HO) Rangareddy district.
NDTV
12-06-2025
- Health
- NDTV
One In Every Four Indians Is Skinny Fat. How Can You Lose Weight If You're One?
You might fit into a pair of jeans labelled 'medium' or have a BMI that falls in the 'normal' range and yet struggle with belly flab, feel sluggish, or lack toned muscles. If that sounds familiar, you're likely dealing with what's known as a skinny fat body type. It's a term that has become increasingly relevant in the world of health and fitness, especially on social media. A recent survey, released in March 2025 by the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), found that 28% of Indians (1 out of every 4) with a normal BMI also had excess body fat. It is also known as "thin-fat" or "metabolically unhealthy non-obese". What Is A Skinny Fat Body Type? According to Kanikka Malhotra, Clinical Dietician and Consultant Nutritionist, "People who appear skinny or have a normal BMI but have reduced muscle mass and a larger percentage of body fat are referred to by this term. You may be able to wear smaller clothing, but your body composition isn't as healthy as it appears." Dr Rakesh Durkhure, Head, General, MI and Bariatric Surgery (Unit IV), Artemis Hospitals, breaks it down further. "This happens when there isn't much muscle mass underneath, even though the body weight is normal. Most of the time, it's because of bad eating habits, not working out enough - especially strength training - and sitting too much," he says. Kushal Pal Singh, Fitness and Performance Expert, Anytime Fitness, a 24 hour health and fitness clubs, adds that skinny fat individuals usually carry excess fat around the abdomen (think beer belly) while having low muscle tone, making their bodies appear soft and flabby despite being lean. How To Figure Out If You're Skinny Fat The problem with skinny fat is that it might be difficult to figure out if you've a skinny fat body type. Here are some signs that might indicate you're skinny fat, as highlighted by the experts: You have a normal BMI but little to no muscle definition (A normal BMI range for adults is between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m²) Your body feels soft or flabby, especially in the belly, hips or thighs You don't strength train or eat enough protein You feel fatigued easily during workouts Your waist circumference is high despite a low body weight To be sure, Singh recommends tests such as a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), or a DEXA scan (Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), which can determine your body fat percentage and muscle mass accurately. "Waist circumference (WHR) can also give you an indication of abdominal fat," he adds. Why Being Skinny Fat Is Dangerous For Your Health Looking slim doesn't always mean you're healthy. In fact, the skinny fat body type can hide serious internal issues, according to experts. Malhotra says, "Skinny fat is a risk for your health. Additional body fat and less than enough muscle on your body might increase your risk of various diseases." Such as: Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance Heart disease & high cholesterol High BP Fatty liver disease The main culprit? Visceral fat - the kind that surrounds your organs. It often goes unnoticed but causes inflammation and metabolic disruption. How To Lose Weight If You're Skinny Fat: A Complete Guide Losing weight when you're skinny fat is less about reducing kilos on the scale and more about changing your body composition. And that's all about decreasing fat and increasing lean muscle. Here's what experts have to say: 1. Prioritise Strength Training Over Endless Cardio Dr Durkhure says, "Strength training should be your top priority, 3-5 times a week. Do resistance exercises like squats, deadlifts, push-ups, and weightlifting." Malhotra agrees, also asks to: Lift weights 3-4 times a week Target all major muscle groups: legs, back, chest, arms and core Use progressive overload - gradually increase the weight or resistance Don't worry about bulking up. As Malhotra explains, "Building muscle will take a long to be visible and will make you overall leaner." 2. Be Strategic About Cardio While cardio must have a place in your workout schedule, too much of it can burn muscle instead of fat. Singh recommends: Do cardio 2-3 times a week Choose moderate-intensity activities such as brisk walking, swimming or cycling Include 1-2 short HIIT () sessions weekly Avoid long-duration endurance cardio which can erode muscle mass 3. Eat Smart Nutrition is the cornerstone of transforming a skinny fat physique. Experts stress the importance of a protein-rich diet. This includes 1.2 to 2 grams per kg of body weight, depending on training intensity. Remember to add: Lean protein: Chicken, fish, tofu, eggs, Greek yoghurt Whole foods: Fruits, vegetables, whole grains Healthy fats: Nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil Legumes and beans: Great for fibre and protein Experts also advise to avoid sugary drinks, deep-fried items, packaged snacks and refined carbs such as white bread and sugary cereals. "Begin with a calorie-restricted diet that creates a moderate deficit, but don't go too extreme - otherwise, you'll risk losing muscle," Singh adds. 4. Track Your Real Progress If you're skinny fat, your weight alone is a poor measure of progress. Malhotra advises: Use body measurements (waist, hips, arms) Take progress photos monthly Get periodic body composition tests Focus on non-scale victories: Are you lifting heavier? Do you have more energy? Do your clothes fit better? 5. Build Lifestyle Habits A ripped body isn't built in the gym alone. It's the small daily habits that compound over time. Experts suggest: Getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night for muscle recovery Hydrating yourself, as it aids in fat loss and muscle function Try to manage stress, as it the root cause of major problems, through yoga, walking or journaling - stress can elevate the cortisol hormone, which encourages fat storage. Bottomline With the right approach - combining weights, the right food, and patience - you can build a leaner, stronger, and healthier body, even if you're skinny fat.
The Hindu
08-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Climate change is disrupting the human gut in a new path to illness
Climate-driven food shortage and undernourishment could affect the composition of the human gut microbiota, exacerbating the effects of climate change on human health, according to a new review article published in The Lancet Planetary Health. The article comes on the heels of a growing number of studies that highlight the key role food and nutrition play in maintaining a healthy microbial population in the human gut, leading to better metabolic and intestinal health. Diversity disrupted According to the review, climate-induced changes in the yield and nutritional quality of plants, seafood, meat, and dairy could disrupt this microbial diversity, tipping the balance towards microbial strains associated with malnutrition and particular diseases. The review also warns that these effects will be more pronounced in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) since these regions face the brunt of climate stressors, including higher temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide, which affect their agricultural output and increase render deficiencies in these areas more common. Indigenous communities that depend more than other demographic groups on local food sources and which have been shown to have greater gut microbial diversity may also be more susceptible to climate-related changes, the review reads. Research has already found that high atmospheric carbon dioxide levels can diminish the quantity of plant micronutrients like phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and iron, along with protein concentrations in vital crops such as wheat, maize and rice. These effects add to the complexities that affect the gut microbiota. While the effects of food and nutrition are direct, the review also examined the role of changes in water, soil, and other environmental microbiota as a result of climate change. A fine balance In another recent review, published in Dialogues in Health, researchers from the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, analysed the impact of heat on human and animal health in India. They found that reports of foodborne and waterborne infectious diseases and malnutrition increase with heat. Although these findings mirror common knowledge about food and water-related illnesses in warmer weather, the resulting implications for gut dysbiosis — the imbalance in gut microbial populations — also need to be considered for future heat-related mitigation efforts, The Lancet review said. 'While we know and research various effects of climate change on human health, one aspect remains understudied — the effects of changing climate on the microbial communities in the human gut,' Elena Litchman, author of the review in The Lancet and the MSU Foundation professor of aquatic ecology at Michigan State University, said. 'This, in part, could be explained by the fact that researchers studying human microbiota do not necessarily think about it in a climate change context.' The human gut is home to about 100 trillion bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. Bacteria are this group's predominant members. The microbes' overall diversity in the gut influences several aspects of human well-being, including immunity, maintaining glucose levels, and metabolism. According to a 2018 analysis in The BMJ, lower bacterial diversity has been observed in atopic eczema, types I and II diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease, among other conditions. Researchers are also exploring how gut dysbiosis changes the central nervous system and leads to neurological disorders. More research attention The gut microbiome — the collective genome of the microbes in the gut — has far more genes than the human genome, producing thousands of metabolites that affect the individual's health and development. 'Our understanding of the gut microbiota's role in human health is still evolving,' While climate change is a growing concern in this context, establishing cause and effect is difficult as there are many confounding factors,' Sachit Anand, a paediatric urologist and assistant professor at AIIMS, New Delhi, said. In his research, Anand examines the role of gut microbiota in congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract. He added that understanding the interactions between the microbiota, the host, and the environment is now gaining more research attention, especially when evaluating an individual's susceptibility to specific diseases. As climate change becomes a key influencing factor in this 'triad', its impact cannot be ignored moving forward, he said. It may be tempting to examine these interdependencies in a linear manner: i.e. that climate-induced changes in crops affect the diet and thus the gut microbiota, or that climate-induced increases in temperatures make enteric infections more prevalent, ultimately disrupting the gut's microbial population. But both Litchman and Tarini Shankar Ghosh, assistant professor at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi, warned that many of these stressors are often playing out simultaneously. As a computational biologist, Ghosh is interested in patterns in data about the human gut microbiome. 'If you take the example of low-income groups residing in urban environments, you are looking at the impacts of temperature, pollution, lack of quality food, and water supply,' he explained. 'There are multiple factors that are disrupting the gut microbiota at the same time.' A new science Ghosh also said dysbiosis has been found to be a diagnostic signature in many disease states. According to him, this means it is not just the tipping of the balance towards unfavourable microbial populations that is concerning: dysbiosis also signals a loss of interdependence between 'normal' microbial strains, leading to a loss of several metabolic functions in the host. 'What we need right now is to generate more data to understand how the so-called good bacteria interact with each other and benefit the host. Data generation must go hand-in-hand with connecting this information to climate change, so we know what is happening,' Ghosh said. Thus, Litchman said, a multidisciplinary approach with researchers from disparate fields coming together is vital to understand the effects of climate change on human gut microbiota. But along with a lack of awareness of climate change's effects, a paucity of funding programmes to enable such interdisciplinary and international research is a major impediment to future research of this nature, she added. On the flip side, with advances in computational biology and metagenomics — analyses of the genetic makeup of microorganisms in a given environment — researchers are inching closer to unearthing some of the gut microbiota's secrets. For example, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, professor Vineet Kumar Sharma has developed an open-access database named GutBugBD. It provides information about how the gut microbiome can interact with and alter specific nutraceuticals and drugs, paving the way for therapeutic approaches to modulate gut microbiota in response to various changes. This is just the start, according to Sharma: 'At the moment, we are merely doing broader surveys of the gut microbiota to understand what is there and how they are functioning. Even if we introduce healthy microbiota through, say, probiotics, we cannot know if the response will be the same between two individuals. Each person's gut microbiota is unique, and understanding this uniqueness is important for the way forward.' Sharmila Vaidyanathan is an independent writer from Bengaluru.
